The Democratic Party has now become overwhelmingly anti-Israel. The numbers are astonishing:
“What are we talking about here? All right, who do Democrats sympathize more with: Israelis or Palestinians? In 2017, the Democratic Party was a pro-Israeli party,” [CNN’s chief data analyst Harry] Enten explained. “Look at this. They sympathized with the Israelis by 13 points—more with the Israelis than the Palestinians. But look at this sea change. Now, Democrats sympathize more with the Palestinians by 43 points.”
“Oh my God! That is a change in the margin of 56 points over the course of just eight years. So all of a sudden, it’s the pro-Palestinian position that actually reigns supreme in Democratic politics, not the Israeli position,” he continued. “And that is part of the reason why Mamdani was able to do so well in this primary, because those attacks over Israel, simply put, did not ring true for Democrats. They’re now on the side of the Palestinians, not the Israelis.”
Democrats under 50 are now pro-Palestinian by a 57-point margin. I don’t have the raw numbers, but that would be, for example, 18% pro-Israel, 75% pro-Palestinian, 7% no opinion. God only knows what the breakdown would be for Democrats under 30.
This is a stunning shift in a very short time. What caused it? I really don’t know. It seems to be a grass roots phenomenon, as most leaders of the Democratic Party are still at least nominally pro-Israel. But what drives it? Biased news coverage? Our horrific education system? Changing demographics, with a substantial percentage of Americans now being foreign-born? Social media?
For what it is worth, I suspect that social media must play an outsized role, given the timing and speed of the transition. The fact that the anti-Israel shift is localized to the Democratic Party may suggest that it is a kind of contagion. Can people posting a Palestinian flag on their Facebook pages really make that kind of difference? I suspect we are seeing evidence that the answer is Yes.
Re: Mamdani & Israel, Democrats are longer pro-Israeli when it comes to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Dems sympathized more with Israelis by 13 pt in 2017. Now, it’s Palestinians by 43 pt.
Among Dems under 50, it was Israelis by 14 pt in 2017. Now, Palestinians by 57 pt. pic.twitter.com/AfGop8UHTF
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 2, 2025
